Manny
Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather after historic May 2, 2015 fight
A waiter in Los Angeles, Gabriel Salvador,
has sued boxer Manny Pacquiao, his trainer Freddie Roach,
CBS and Showtime, alleging breach of contract. Salvador
states he arranged a meeting with Roach and CBS executive,
Les Moonves, which led to the most lucrative boxing match in
history, 2015's Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. The fight grossed
over $600,000,000. Salvador wants a "2% finders fee" of
$8,600,000. That figure, much like Kim Kardashian's butt, is
artificially inflated and preposterous.
Floyd Mayweather and Manny
Pacquiao
It is highly unusual and unorthodox that a
trainer or television executive would make an oral agreement
of that nature, with a waiter, guarantying a percent of
profits from a project. Salvador is asking for more money
than most boxers make in a lifetime (and the waiter didn't
even throw a punch in the ring). It's just too much for a
non-party to the fight. As a token of goodwill, they could
give Salvador $50,000. However, it should be noted they gave
Salvador $10,000, tickets to the fight, a first class
airplane ticket and hotel accommodations, which was
reasonable. It's not like they told him to go kick rocks.
Furthermore, suing CBS and Showtime over the fight, when he
is an aspiring actor wanting to work in Hollywood, is a bad
idea, as they will unquestionably blacklist him.
Manny Pacquiao and trainer
Freddie Roach
While I'm certainly no fan of Hollywood, due
to the dirty dealings that go on, I'm a fair, truthful and
unbiased person. Not to be unkind, but a waiter in Hollywood
does not have more influence in the entertainment and or
sports industries than an accomplished trainer, who has
coached world famous boxing champions, is used to television
deals and has been apart of other multi-million dollar
fights. That's a hard sell in court to state otherwise.
Gabriel Salvador
At the end of the day, the fight was going
to be made one way or another. Mayweather was being taunted
via claims he was scared of Pacquiao, but knew there was
great public interest in the then potential fight. It
is highly unlikely Mayweather was going to leave all that
money on the table and not fight Pacquiao. Mayweather
doesn't like sports pundits telling him what to do and
calling him names, so he held out for a long time, being
defiant.
